Monday, March 30, 2009

After lobbying from advocates on both sides of the abortion debate, pro-abortion Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine has signed a bill that would create Choose Life license plates. The bill includes other license plates, which may have made it easier for Kaine to sign the legislation into law.

Funds for the plate earmarked for pregnancy centers...NARAL is ticked off

Nancy Keenan, the head of NARAL, claims that an offer of help to pregnant women is "propaganda" and she urged Kaine, whom President Barack Obama selected to become the national Democratic Party chairman, to veto the bill.

Cheer up, Nancy...you've got your chance:

Kaine said he signed the Choose Life plate bill only because he thinks state residents should have the right to a specialty plate.

"I sign this legislation today in keeping with the Commonwealth's longtime practice of approving specialty plates with all manner of political and social messages," he said.

Kaine also said he would sign a bill brought by abortion advocates for a pro-abortion plate.

"If Planned Parenthood ... or another similar organization ever chooses to seek a specialty license plate in Virginia, I believe the constitution would require the state to approve that plate to protect against any viewpoint discrimination," he said.

Now I ask you...what would the NARAL/Planned Parenthood/Whatever license plate say? "Choose Death?" With a frowning face?

Sunday, March 29, 2009

The 22nd Annual Way of the Cross for Life is a peaceful procession to pray for the end of abortion. Join us on Good Friday morning, walking from church to church in downtown Boston.

The details:

Meet at Government Center Plaza, next to the MBTA Station, at 9:00 AM. The group plans to peacefully and prayerfully walk from Government Center to Cathedral of the Holy Cross, stopping at the Paulist Center, Saint Thomas More Chapel, Saint Anthony's Shrine, and Saint James on the way. Bring your Rosaries, but keep your signs at home.

Hint: you can park for free in the lot behind the Cathedral, and take the Silver Line bus which willl drop you off about 3 blocks from Government Center.

Congratulations to the students who are taking a stand to protest honoring the President. They say they have a moral question as to whether or not to attend their own graduation. Well, Bishop John D’Arcy, who has always attended in the past, is not going to attend this year.

Why not have the university send him all the diplomas of the students in those protesting groups and let him present those diplomas to the students at the cathedral!

In an email first reported by Thomas Peters at American Papist, Bishop Thomas Olmstead of Phoenix, Arizona expressed disapproval to Notre Dame president Father John I. Jenkins of the invitation to President Barack Obama to the Catholic university's May commencement.

The Bishop's public disapproval joins that of the university's Bishop John D'Arcy, who announced his boycott of the commencement ceremonies because of the honor planned for President Obama.

I guess I don't understand some things. While I'm heartened that two bishops expressed disapproval, I don't get why somebody in the higher-up crowd just says "no, you can't do that."

Anyway, Bishop Olmstead gave permission to release his email publicly, according to a Diocese of Phoenix spokesman, "due to the fact that the invitation by Notre Dame’s president, Fr. John Jenkins, to President Barack Obama to give the commencement speech at Notre Dame’s May graduation is a public act causing widespread public scandal due to the U.S. President’s clear support of policies which fail to protect and even attack innocent human life..."

Here's the email's content:

I am saddened and heavy of heart about your decision to invite President Obama to speak at Notre Dame University and even to receive an honorary degree.It is a public act of disobedience to the Bishops of the United States. Out USCCB June 2004 Statement “Catholics in Political Life” states: “The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.” No one could not know of the public stands and actions of the president on key issues opposed to the most vulnerable human beings.John Paul II said, “Above all, the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights – for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture – is false and illusory if the rights to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with the maximum determination”I pray that you come to see the grave mistake of your decision, and the way that it undercuts the Church’s proclamation of the Gospel of Life in our day.Bishop Thomas J. OlmstedDiocese of Phoenix

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Excerpt from a homily "In Praise of the Virgin Mother" by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

"You have heard, O Virgin, that you will conceive and bear a son; you have heard that it will not be by man but by the Holy Spirit. The angel awaits an answer; it is time for him to return to God who sent him. We too are waiting, O Lady, for your word of compassion; the sentence of condemnation weighs heavily upon us.

"The price of our salvation is offered to you. We shall be set free at once if you consent. In the eternal Word of God we all came to be, and behold, we die. In your brief response we are to be remade in order to be recalled to life.

"Tearful Adam with his sorrowing family begs this of you, O loving Virgin, in their exile from Paradise. Abraham begs it, David begs it. All the other holy patriarchs, your ancestors, ask it of you, as they dwell in the country of the shadow of death. This is what the whole earth waits for, prostrate at your feet. It is right in doing so, for on your word depends comfort for the wretched, ransom for the captive, freedom for the condemned, indeed, salvation for all the sons of Adam, the whole of your race.

"Answer quickly, O Virgin. Reply in haste to the angel, or rather through the angel to the Lord. Answer with a word, receive the Word of God. Speak your own word, conceive the divine Word. Breathe a passing word, embrace the eternal Word.

"Why do you delay, why are you afraid? Believe, give praise, and receive. Let humility be bold, let modesty be confident. This is no time for virginal simplicity to forget prudence. In this matter alone, O prudent Virgin, do not fear to be presumptuous. Though modest silence is pleasing, dutiful speech is now more necessary. Open your heart to faith, O blessed Virgin, your lips to praise, your womb to the Creator. See, the desired of all nations is at your door, knocking to enter. If he should pass by because of your delay, in sorrow you would begin to seek him afresh, the One whom your soul loves. Arise, hasten, open. Arise in faith, hasten in devotion, open in praise and thanksgiving. Behold the handmaid of the Lord, she says, be it done to me according to your word.

Monday, March 23, 2009

"We are not ignoring the critical issue of the protection of life. On the contrary, we invited him [Obama to the Notre Dame commencement and to receive an honorary law degree] because we care so much about those issues, and we hope for this to be the basis of an engagement with him," Jenkins said.

"You cannot change the world if you shun the people you want to persuade, and if you cannot persuade them show respect for them and listen to them," he said.

The last paragraph makes sense from an apologetics perspective.

The first paragraph is rot...unless, of course, the Notre Dame president and his faculty and students plan to engage the most pro-abortion president in U.S. history in a discussion about, say, when life begins. Now, this might be difficult for Obama, seeing that this question is, in his opinion, "above his pay grade."

President Obama is "an inspiring leader who has taken leadership of the country facing many challenges: two wars, a really troubled economy, he has issues with health care, immigration, education reform, and he has addressed those with intelligence, courage and honesty," Jenkins said.

Methinks thou doth protest too much, Padre. Anyway, what you say is up for debate, at best. I have no evidence that the soon-to-be honored president has addressed any of this issues with either courage nor honesty. Intelligence? No argument there, the guy's one smart cookie.

Obama's historic election as the first black president in American history adds to the honor of his acceptance of Notre Dame's invitation, he said.

This is pure and simple racism in my opinion. 'Course I was always taught not to judge someone by his or her race, creed, or national origin.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Please know that you and the University of Notre Dame are in my prayers.

I'm writing you to ask that you prayerfully reconsider honoring President Obama on May 17.

While it is not for the sheep to shepherd the shepherd, it is still the duty of every disciple to do whatever is possible to lead one another to the Kingdom of God.

This includes, of course, President Obama.

By bestowing honors on a leader holding, arguably, one of the strongest pro-abortion records in U.S. history, a Catholic University strongly implies that such records are of little or no import. This erroneous implication does a disservice not just to Catholics, and not just to your students...it disserves the honoree himself.

Pray for our President, yes. But do not, I beg you, use the university named for Our Lady to confuse the unambiguous fact that abortion is murder and therefore not to be tolerated...much less ignored.

In Mary, Mother of the Unborn Jesus,

Kelly Clark27 Whiting StreetBoston, MA 02119617-281-5657~~~~~~

To register by phone, fax, petition, and/or email your objections to the choice of President Barack Obama as principal commencement speaker and honorary law degree recipient at Notre Dame on May 17, go here.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Yeah, I know he apologized. To the Special Olympics folks, which was the PC thing to do.

So I guess it's okay to make fun of organizations for special needs people, as long as you apologize after doing so. Meanwhile, the president's fans are falling all over themselves, chiding folks who found the remark offensive for "not having a sense of humor."

My take? It's pretty obvious that he thinks people who aren't as physically and mentally advantaged as he is are fair game for mockery.

'Course I guess we should look at the bright side. At least he wouldn't want to see them killed before they had a chance to -- uh, never mind.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

It is a privilege to join the saints in prayer for those who have consecrated themselves to Jesus and Mary. Included in this litany is Saint Joseph: foster father and adorer of Jesus, most chaste spouse of Mary, model of obedience, and the worker.A wonderful homily by the Holy Father on the Feast of Saint Joseph can be found here.

"Conscientious objection against many actions is a part of our life. We have a conscientious objection against war for those who cannot fight, even though it's good to defend your country. We have a conscientious objection for doctors against being involved in administering the death penalty. Why shouldn't our government and our legal system permit conscientious objection to a morally bad action, the killing of babies in their mother's womb? People understand what really happens in an abortion and in related procedures--a living member of the human family is killed--that's what it's all about--and no one should be forced by the government to act as though he or she were blind to this reality."

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Yesterday we heard, from the Second Book of Kings, about Naaman the leper's cure. This is one of many stories in the Old Testament that prefigures the Sacrament of Baptism.

Enhancing our Lenten journey is prayer—including prayers for those to be initiated into the Church through the Baptismal waters on Easter. I hope these words of Saint Ambrose helps your prayer and mine bear much fruit.

"Lent Leads to Baptism"

After this you drew nearer, you saw the font itself, and you saw the bishop presiding over it. The thought which came into the mind of Naaman the Syrian, I am certain, must have come into yours: for though he was afterwards cleansed, he began by doubting...And if anyone should perhaps be thinking of saying: 'Is that all?', I say, indeed it is all. There truly is all, where there is all innocence, all devotion, all grace, all sanctification. You saw all you could see with the eyes of the body...; what is unseen is much greater than what is seen...for the things that are unseen are eternal...

Consider baptism, for example. What could be more extraordinary than this, that the Jewish people passed through the midst of the sea? And yet all the Jews who made that passage died in the desert. But he who passes through the waters of this font—that is, from earthlythings to heavenly—he who passes through these waters does not die: he rises again.

As I was saying, Naaman was a leper. The moment Naaman came, the prophet told him: 'Go down to the river Jordan; bathe there and you will be cured.' Then he began to reflect within himself and to say: 'Is that all? I come from Syria to the land of the Jews and someone says to me: "Go to the Jordan, bathe there and you will be cured." As though there were not better rivers in my own country!' Then his servants said to him: 'Lord, why not do what the prophet says? Do it and see what happens.' Then he went to the Jordan, bathed there and came out cured. What is the meaning of this?

You saw the water, but not all waters have a curative power: only that water has it which has the grace of Christ. There is a difference between the matter and the consecration, between the action and its effect. The action belongs to the water, its effect to the Holy Spirit. The water does not heal unless the Spirit descends and consecrates the water.

So you have read that when our Lord Jesus Christ instituted the rite of baptism, he came to John and John said to him: 'I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?' (Mt 3,14)...Christ went down into the water and it was John who was the minister and baptized him. And behold, the Holy Spirit descended as a dove...

Why did Christ come down first and the Holy Spirit afterwards?... Why was this? It was in order that the Lord Jesus might not appear to have need of this mystery of sanctification, but that he himself might sanctify, and that the Spirit might also sanctify.

—Saint Ambrose (c.340-397), Bishop of Milan and Doctor of the Church On the Sacraments, 1 (trans. Edward Yarnold SJ)

At least once a year, my parish sponsors a baby shower to benefit the good folks at Pregnancy Help. Like most parishes I'd guess, folks are asked to bring in suitable stuff for babies.

This year, able Parish Pro Life Guy Gerry Zeller registered our shower with Babies R Us, giving out of towners (or the plain old lazy folk like me) the option of clicking, buying, and shipping directly to the rectory.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

"While I appreciate the opportunity given to Caritas Christi to serve the poor through this agreement, I wish to reaffirm that this agreement can only be realized if the moral obligations for Catholic hospitals as articulated in the Ethical and Religious Directives of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops are fulfilled at all times and in all cases. In order to assure me that this agreement will provide for the integrity of the Catholic identity and practices of Caritas Christi Health Care System, I have asked the National Catholic Bioethics Center to review the agreement and to assure me that it is faithful to Catholic principles."

I'm not going to give you a lot of bleep about my respect for my Cardinal Archbishop. The fact that I link to his blog is the least of it. I consider him a friend. He is the pastor of my parish church, Cathedral of the Holy Cross. Daily, I lead a Rosary group in prayer for him and for the Archdiocese. I've advised him to wear !*#^!(^& socks under his sandals in winter weather, for Heaven's sake!

Okay. I guess I have given you a lot of bleep about my respect for my Eminent Father. Sue me. But let me say something.

While it's not for the sheep to shepherd the pastor, it is the right of the sheep to ask the shepherd for clarification. And while I'm no Mary, even she asked the angel of God: "How can this be?"

So I'm asking, not just the Cardinal, but all those "moral theologians" who supported this peculiar "Catholic" venture, the whatever-committee members of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the good folks at the National Catholic Bioethics Center and everybody who thinks this is such a @@#&(!(&%^ hot idea one simple question:

ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND???

Ahem. I didn't mean exactly that. What I meant was simply this:

If you refuse to perform abortions, provide in vitro fertilization, distribute condoms, IUDs, and other birth control devises, as well you should, then why in the name of all that is holy would you provide the wherewithal—transportation, references, etc—for OTHERS to do the same thing?

State regulators today voted to accept a controversial bid by a Massachusetts Catholic hospital chain and a secular health organization to provide health insurance to low income residents.

The vote came after Caritas-Centene assured the panel that women will have "ready access" to timely family planning services, with no primary care physician referral required. They also promised creation of a toll-free 800 customer service number that will provide women information about where they can get family planning and reproductive services -- and, in an emergency, will provide transportation to the nearest appropriate facility.

What, I wonder, constitutes an "emergency" in this context?

As for the "toll free" number that will provide women information about family planning? There already is one that any Catholic institution should be aware of: the one at the top of the Natural Family Planning website.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

I tried to embed the Larry King Live interview after being alerted by alert watcher Deborah but couldn't. She writes:

Clinton spoke about embryos not being fertilized and said that if embryos were ever on their way to be fertilized, they shouldn't be used for experimentation. He said this one way or another about 3 or 4 times and then ended by saying it unequivocally.

I couldn't believe my ears! Surely, I thought, Dr. Gupta - a medical doctor, isn't he? - is going to nicely point out that an embryo is an embryo because it has been fertilized, that it is a genetically complete fully fertilized egg. Gupta said nothing.

Can it be that Bill Clinton and Dr. Gupta don't really know what an embryo is?

I hope someone in the pro-life movement will use the clip of Clinton saying fertilized embryos should not be used for experimentation!

Tomorrow, the state of Massachusetts's "Connector Board" is slated to vote on the Caritas Christi Health Network-Centene Corporation venture.

(When a board member raised the objection that Caritas Christi, being a Catholic network, would not perform abortions, the two entities released a joint statement saying that "will contract with providers, both in and out of the Caritas network, to ensure to all services required by the authority, including confidential family planning services.")

Since then, Caritas Christi has withheld comment on the controversial venture, and on other questions about its operation "out of respect for the legal process of the Connector Authority." In other words, until the state makes its decision, the network deems it imprudent to comment on its operations.

However, the network's proposed partner evidently has no such reservations.

Michael Paulson, blogger and religious reporter for The Boston Globe, posts a statement from Centene Corporation, which answers the question: "How would you handle a situation in which a patient seeks a service a Catholic hospital will not provide?"

"Like all managed care plans, our health plans contract with a full spectrum of providers to ensure that all benefits are available to members, as required and approved by our state regulatory agencies. If a provider does not perform certain medical services, that provider directs patients back to the health plan. Our health plans have local staff and 1-800 numbers available 24/7 for access to information on all services provided. This number and information about all services are readily available online and in printed materials. In Massachusetts, we will apply these same procedures."

You might visit Michael's "Articles of Faith" blog to review comments by Anne Fox, Massachusetts Citzens for Life president, and the Catholic League's C.J. Doyle.

Regarding the concern of Catholics and non-Catholic pro life people over the proposed bid of Caritas Christi Health Network to offer insurance to low income Massachusetts residents in Boston via Commonwealth Care, a program that demands its providers offer "reproductive health services," Notre Dame law and theology professor Cathleen Kaveny observed:

"For some of these prolife groups, no cooperation with evil is ever justified, but that's more of a prophetic stand, a new way of applying the tradition."

I don't know what she means by the second part of her sentence. In fact, I'm not sure what she means by the first...could she possibly be implying that sometimes cooperation with evil isjustified?

The lead in today's Boston Globe story:

Critics of a proposed joint venture between the local Catholic hospital chain and a secular insurance company say they are concerned about the arrangement because of one major issue: abortion.

But supporters say there is another issue at stake in the discussion of whether Caritas Christi Health Care should take part in providing insurance to low-income people in Massachusetts: poverty.

This reminded me of Saint Stephen.

In Acts 6, we learn that the diaconate was instituted in the days shortly following Christ's death and resurrection to, at least in part, insure that the earthly needs of the growing Church were seen to while the Apostles—the first bishops—devoted themselves to prayer and to spreading the Word of God. Stephen chose to testify to the glory of Jesus, earning himself a martyr's death.

Shall I presume that Stephen's actions were irresponsible, since his insistence on proclaiming Jesus as Lord resulted in his death, thereby reducing the manpower necessary to tend to the poor? Nonsense, no?

Too often, learned people confuse the true mission of the Church.

Indeed, it is our duty—and we should embrace this duty with love and joy—to practice the corporal works of mercy.

But when these works are tainted by the intrusion of evil—which seems to be the case of the Caritas matter—then they become worse than useless: they become evil in themselves.

While it is the responsibility of the Body of Christ to tend to the physical needs of the world, it is a far greater responsiblity to help save each other's souls.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Author if "The Ten Great Myths in the Debate Over Stem Cell Research," Father Tad Pacholczyk will discuss the implications of Obama's reversal of President Bush's policy to limit such research to adult stem cells. Holding a doctorate in neuroscience from Yale, Father Pacholczyk is Director of Education at the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia.

We can expect, in his discussion, to reiterate the Catholic stance on life stated in paragraph 2271 of the Catechism:

"Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion...You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish...God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves. Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.”

See the interview live on Friday, March 13, at 10:30 AM Eastern on CatholicTV's "This is the Day." The show will also be streamed live at CatholicTV.com and will be available on the site’s archives starting Friday night.

Although the decision to allow expanded funding had been long expected, many thought Obama would limit federally funded scientists to working with cell lines derived from embryos destined to be discarded at infertility clinics. Instead, he left that key issue open.

"He left it wide open," said Thomas H. Murray, director of the Hastings Center, a bioethics think tank. "Now we are going to have to face a host of morally complicated, politically charged questions. There's not an easy path forward for them out of here."

Will scientists call the shots?

...proponents of the research had hoped that Obama's order would be free of caveats, fulfilling his promise to leave such decisions to scientists. Obama cast his decision that way, coupling it with an order aimed at removing politics from scientific decisions across the government.

Creating life to destroy life

Although Congress may try to revisit this issue, federal law prohibits the direct use of taxpayer money to create or destroy embryos for research purposes. But it is legal to do so with private funding. The ethical debate centers on whether permitting federal funding on cell lines from those sources will encourage such activity.

"This is a really explosive issue," Ronald M. Green, a Dartmouth College bioethicist. "There are lot of people on the left and the right sides of our political spectrum who are opposed to that -- to create a life to destroy it," Green said.

Saturday, March 07, 2009

Caritas Christi Health Care Network is a Catholic organization, operating six hospitals, affiliated with the Archdiocese of Boston. It's reported to be in substantial financial difficulty.

Commonwealth Care is a state-run program offering low or no-cost health care to Massachusetts residents who qualify.

Caritas Christi teamed with a company in Saint Louis called Centrene Corp. to propose a venture (called "Commonwealth Family Health Plan") allowing it to become a part of the the program.

The problem:

A board member of the authority overseeing the program objected to the proposal on the grounds that Caritas does not perform abortions.

One response:

A joint statement by Caritas and Centrene saying that the new venture "will contract with providers, both in and out of the Caritas network, to ensure to all services required by the authority, including confidential family planning services."

Other responses include:

@!(*$^!)*##_!(#U — or words to that effect — from area Catholics.

From C.J. Doyle, Catholic League of Massachusetts: "This appears to be an appalling betrayal of Catholic principles and a grave scandal."

From Anne Fox, president, Massachusetts Citizens for life: "It looks to me as though . . . an entity has to give up certain of its basic principles, and that just doesn't hang right."

From Caritas spokeslady Teresa Prego: "Applying for participation in the [state program] is a complex public policy process," it said. "We will carefully investigate all aspects of this proposed relationship in order to insure that Caritas Christi's participation will be in accord with Catholic teaching."

From Terrence Donilon, Archdiocese spokesguy: "Caritas is the appropriate agency to respond," (declining further comment).

From Cardinal O'Malley (in part): "I want to confirm for the Catholic community and the wider interested public that Caritas Christi Health Care has assured me that it will not be engaged in any procedures nor draw any benefits from any relationship which violate the Church's moral teaching."

To all those scientists who have tried again and again to show that adult stem cells are not only the more ethical route (we through away "ethics" when we elected this fellow) but actually make more sense scientifically? Sorry. You don't have any choice.

Thursday, March 05, 2009

If President Obama has his way—and it looks like he will—then my "choice"—and yours, if you're pro life—will be tossed in the trash like an aborted baby.

I disapprove of murdering the unborn. And yet it looks like I will be forced to pay for it.

Since taking office, President Obama:

Overturned the "Mexico City Policy" which required organizations accepting federal funds to refrain from promoting or performing abortions overseas. Now I'm going to have to pay for abortions overseas.

Is "looking forward" to giving my money to the United Nations Population Fund, which promotes overseas abortions.

Wants to continue to use my money to fund the abortion industry, while not allowing my money to help pregnancy resource organizations which help women find alternative solutions to abortion.

Continues to oppose the Hyde Amendment, which, for now, stops Medicaid/Medicare $$$ from overseas abortions. funding abortions in most cases.

Is expected to include abortion coverage in any national health care plan produced under his administration.

Began the process of overturning President Bush's Provider Conscience clause, which gives the right—scratch that, reaffirms the right—of medical providers to say no to "procedures" that violate their consciences.

If this is what people call "pro choice," then somebody better buy me an updated dictionary. I can't. My dough, evidently, is tied up elsewhere...I've got abortions to pay for.

Some spokesfolk for Catholic institutions might take a lesson from Martin McGovern, spokesman for Stonehill College in Massachusetts.

Seems a student, "frustrated that her college does not distribute birth control," took it upon herself to collect a bunch of condoms and place them in student dormitories across the campus. School administrators confiscated them.

Here's what Mr. McGovern told the media:

"We're a private Catholic college. We make no secret of our religious affiliation, and our belief system is fairly straightforward. We don't expect everyone on campus to agree with our beliefs, but we would ask people, and students in particular, to respect them."